Located
forty miles east of Annapurna, Manaslu (also called
Kutang), the eighth highest mountain in the world,
dominates the Gurkha massif. The name Manaslu
is derived from the Sanskrit word Manasa meaning
"Mountain of the Spirit".

After
several failed attempts a Japanese party finally
made the first ascent of Manaslu, (26758 ft/8163
meters) in 1956; it wasn't climbed again until 1971.
In 1997 Charlie Mace made the first American ascent
and since that time only four other Americans had
stood on Manaslu's summit until the succesful
2002 American expedition. The route is of
moderate technical difficulty, but the true
difficulty will be the grueling nature of this
remote peak. After an arduous trek to base
camp the climber will be faced with a circuitous
route up a mountain infamous for heavy snow
accumulation. Avalanches and sheer exhaustion
will be their major obstacles.

A
brief History of climbing Manaslu

1950:
H.W. Tilman, made his famous reconnaissance of
Manaslu after his unsuccessful attempt on Annapurna
4. He stated he believed there was a potential route
to the of Summit of Manaslu via the northeast.

1952:
A Japanese reconnaissance party reached 5275 meter
on the east side of the mountain.

1953:
The first attempt to Summit Manaslu was made by a
Japanese team of 15 climbers led by Yukio Mita via
the Northeast face. K. Kato, J. Yamada and S
Ishizaka made a summit push reaching 7750 meter
before turning back.

1954:
Yaichi Hotta planned to lead a 14 member Japanese
team on the Second Summit attempt of Manaslu, again
via the Northeast. But villagers in the area refused
to let them enter the area, therefore no attempt was
made.

1956:
A Japanese team led by Yuko Maki made the first
ascent of Manaslu via the North. This 12 member team
established camp 6 at 7800 meter and on May 9th.
Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu Sherpa aka
Galalzen Norbu reached the
Summit. On May 11th, Kiichiro Kato and Minoru Higeta
reached the Summit via the same route.

1971:
Kazuharu Kohara and Motoki, part of a 11 man team
from Japan, reached the Summit on May 17th via
the NW spur. The Japanese had all the ascents of Manaslu
at this point !

1971:
Kim Ho-Sup led a Korean expedition to Manaslu to
attempt via the Northeast. Kim Ki-Sup died when he
fell on May 4th, 1971.

1972:
The Austrian expedition led by Wolfgang Nairz made
the first ascent via the SW face. On April 25th,
Reinhold Messner, reached the Summit, Franc Jaeger
and Andy Schrick disappeared on the Summit Plateau
on the same day in a horrible storm.

1972:
The Koreans returned with a 12 members expedition
led by Kim Jung-Sup via the Northeast Face route. On
April 10th 1972, an avalanche killed 16 climbers including
10 Sherpas climbers, the Korean expedition leader
and Kazunari Yasuhisa from Japan.

1973:
Gerhard Schmatz led a West German expedition to
Manaslu. Gerhard, Sigi Hupfauer and a Sherpa climber
reached the summit via the Northeast Face on April 22nd.
In 1973, Jaume Garcia Orts led a Spanish Expedition
in Autumn that was not successful reaching only 6100
meters.

1974:
The Japanese were back with a women team led by
Kyoko Sato attempting via the East ridge. Unable to
summit via the East ridge, Naoko Nakaseko, Masako
Uchida Mieko Mori and Jambu Sherpa reached the
Summit on May 4th via the Northeast route. These
were the first women to Summit Manaslu. Sadly, Sadako Suzuki fell and died on the 5th of May
between camp 4 and 5.

1975:
Jaume Garcia Orts was back with his 12 memebr
Spanish Expedition and had two climbers and a Sherpa
reach the Summit via the Northeast Face route on
April 26th. Gerald Garcia, Jeronimo Lopez and Sonam
Sherpa.